Materials

A transforming material, which does not limit the creative work of fashion. Versatile, durable, and environmentally friendly. Utilized also in the motorsport, in the interiors of the high end sports car. Alcantara is a covering material manufactured and marketed by Alcantara SpA. It is primarily used in the design, fashion, accessories, consumer electronics, automotive and marine industries.

Non-animal derived material. The Alcantara made strap as a main and lining material can be considered as a non-animal derived watch strap.

The material was developed in the early 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto, a scientist working for the Japanese chemical company Toray Industries. It was based on the same technology as another product from the same company named Ultrasuede.

Alcantara has applications including furniture, clothing, jewellery, helmets and automotive. Alcantara is being used currently as a flame retardant driver seat covering material for Formula One race cars.

The American alligator (alligator mississippiensis) is native to the Southeast USA. Alligator skin comes from alligators that are both farm-raised and captured in the wild, although always bred in the wild. The American alligator is one of the least bony of the 23 species of crocodile. As a result, the alligator skin is softer and has smoother scales than other types of crocodile skin, making it among the most luxurious Skin in the leather markets.

The American Alligator is indigenous only to Southeastern United States, available as both farm raised and harvested from the wild. Its skins are prized for their incredible quality and texture. Along with crocodiles and caimans, the American alligator is part of the Crocodillian family and protected by US Laws and CITES agreements.

Connolly Leather Ltd was a British company that supplied highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers, founded in 1878. The term is also used to describe the particular brand of leather itself, when fitted in a car interior.

Connolly supplied most of the leather for the British car industry, including but not limited to Aston Martin & Lagonda, Rolls-Royce & Bentley, Jaguar & Daimler, and Rover cars including its Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles as well as some MG and Mini models during the Rover Group era. Non-British makes included Ferrari and Maserati, Lincoln and Lexus. This leather was also used for the seats in the Supermarine Spitfires used in World War 2.

An attempt to expand into the American market in the 1990s failed badly and Connolly Leather ceased trading in June 2002. However, in 2003, Jonathan Connolly established C B Leather Ltd and resumed the manufacture and production of high quality leather and now sells under both C B Leather and Connolly.

The recipes to Connolly Hide-Food and their Leather-Cleaner have since been sold or licensed and have returned to the market.

Cordura is the brand name for a collection of fabrics used in a wide array of products including luggage, backpacks, trousers, military wear and performance apparel. Cordura fabrics are known for their durability and resistance to abrasions, tears and scuffs.

Modern in both look, and technique, our rubberized leather comes from the finest tanneries in Northern Italy. Its unique and handsome appearance will last for generations with proper care and handling.

Calfskin is a leather or membrane produced from the hide of a calf. Calfskin is particularly valuable because of its softness, and fine grain, as well as durability. It is commonly used for high-quality clothing, shoes, wallets and similar products, as well as traditional leather bookbindings. In Spanish, the word is “Novillo”, referring to leather from animals less than three years old. Chickenskin, despite its name, is actually a form of calfskin made using the skin of unborn calves.

In fashion, soft finished calfskin is sometimes described as veau velours (French for “velvet calf”).Fine calfskin is one of the skins used for vellum and parchment manuscripts.Full-grain leather refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed, or snuffed (as opposed to top-grain or corrected leather) to remove imperfections (or natural marks) on the surface of the hide.

The grain remains allowing the fiber strength and durability. The grain also has breathability, resulting in less moisture from prolonged contact. Rather than wearing out, it develops a patina during its expected useful lifetime. High quality leather furniture and footwear are often made from full-grain leather. Full-grain leathers are typically available in two finish types:aniline, semi-aniline.

The Mohawk leather is tanned to be used on the flesh side (flesh-out) in order to maximise the impact of texture, and of the natural “break” (when flexed), which typically looks best on the reverse side of the hide.

The leather is finished with white wax, which will readily burnish, and will start to drop in the leather at temperature in excess of 60C.

Kudu is an antilope from southern Africa, whose skins have unique characteristics. This interesting finished leather is soft suede on the reverse side and a nubuck on the grain side. The fibre structure is well suited to our “Janus” tannage, resulting in a strikingly soft touch on the suede side, whilst maintaining a high degree of strength. On the grain side, there are interesting natural blemishes which have been highlighted by processing the skin as a nubuck. There are scars and cuts on both sides, which are more superficial than structural. However, these characteristics make a unique casual appearance, especially in the stich-down construction.

Ostrich leather is unmistakable in its appearance; no other material looks similar to it. It is characterized by raised points that are localized to the center of the hide. The portion with these bumps is called the “crown”.

Since the crown is the most sought after portion and since it constitutes such a small area of the skin, “full quill” ostrich products are considerably dearer when compared to bovine leather. This, along with the fact that it is one of the strongest commercial leathers, leads ostrich leather to be seen as a luxury item.

Shell cordovan (or cordovan) is a type of leather commonly used in luxury accessory production. Cordovan is an equine leather made from the fibrous flat muscle (or shell) beneath the hide on the rump of the horse. The leather derives its name from the city of Cordoba, Spain, where it was originally prepared by the Moors. This leather is valuable for its durability. The strap made of shell cordovan will last eternity.